Tablets May Fuel Print Magazine Market, Report Says

A report released earlier this week by the United Kingdom’s Professional Publishers Association (PPA) reveals that tablet users are engaging with digital magazines. No surprise, right?

What is interesting about this report, though, is that the PPA also notes that there appears to be a “positive correlation between print and tablet readership.” In fact, according to the report, 96 percent of tablet owners have read a PRINTED magazine in the last year, compared to the 80 percent national average.

PPA has more on this:

“The findings suggest that while readers are positive about and responsive to digital magazines, they continue to want both formats: digital editions should not be seen as a replacement to print, instead as an addition, providing an enhanced experience for readers.”

This may also not come as a major surprise, but the report also reveals that tablets are a strong tool for finding new magazine and newspaper brands. According to the PPA, 68 percent of tablet users said that they’ve read newspapers or magazines on a tablet device that they had not previously read in print.

So what this report is ultimately revealing is that instead of replacing print magazines, tablets are actually being used in conjunction with print products in many ways.

“Tablet owners are more likely to have read and purchased printed magazines in the previous 3 months than the national average, dispelling the myth that tablet owners are abandoning print in favour [of] digital. The two platforms instead appear to be working in combination to expand consumers’ reading repertoire.”

To all our tablet owners out there: Do you agree with this report? Has a tablet device sparked a new interest in print products?